This document discusses a proposal to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the death of Blessed Sister Maria Troncatti, a missionary who lived in Ecuador from 1922 to 1969. It provides background on Sr. Troncatti's life, including that she was born in Italy in 1883, became a Salesian sister in 1908, and worked as a nurse before being sent to minister among the Shuar people of Ecuador. The document highlights some of Sr. Troncatti's missionary works in Ecuador and her devotion to serving the poor, sick, and marginalized until her death in a plane crash in 1969.

1. Proposal for celebrating
the 50th of the death of
BLESSED Sr. MARIA TRONCATTI
25 August 2019

3. General Intention:
For the success of the Panamazon Synod on the theme:
“Amazon: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral
Ecology”, which will take place in Rome
from October 6 to 27 2019.

4. G. Dearest Sisters, today we gather for the first day of the
Triduum in honor of Blessed Sr. Maria Troncatti who lived
as a Missionary in Ecuador from 1922 to 1969.
First, we wish to remember her profile briefly so as to let
her lead us on our journey of missionary disciples with
broad vision, as GC XXIII asked of us; missionaries of joy
and of hope along the streets of the world where the Lord
asks us to go, witnessing to and proclaiming
His Gospel.

5. R. Sr. Maria was born in Cortegno Golgi (Brescia)
on February 16, 1883. She grew up happy and hardworking in
her numerous family, dividing her time between the farm and
caring for her little brothers and sisters in the warm and loving
atmosphere created by her exemplary parents.
She regularly attended catechism in her parish, where as an
adolescent Maria developed a deep Christian spirit and
opened her heart to the values of a religious vocation.
In obedience to her parish priest, however, she waited till she
reached adulthood before asking to be admitted to the
Institute of the Salesian Sisters.
She made her first profession in 1908 at Nizza Monferrato.

6. R. During the First World War (1915-18)
Sr. Maria took a course in health care in Varazze and worked as
a Red Cross nurse in the military hospital. This experience was
to prove very valuable in the course of her long missionary life
in the Amazon forests of Ecuador.
She left for Ecuador in 1922 and was sent to work among the
Shuar people where, together with two other Sisters,
she began the difficult work of evangelization. They faced
dangers of every kind, including those caused by the beasts of
the forest and by fast flowing rivers that had to be waded
through or crossed on fragile ‘bridges’ made from creepers or
on the shoulders of the Indians.

7. R. Macas, Seville Don Bosco, Sucúa are some of the ‘miracles’
of Sr. Maria Troncatti's works that still flourish. She was nurse,
surgeon, orthopedist, dentist, anesthetist… But, above all,
she was catechist and evangelizer, rich in the wonderful
resources of her faith, patience, and fraternal love.
Her work for the promotion of the Shuar woman bore fruit in
hundreds of new Christian families formed, for the first time
by the free personal choice on the part of the young couple.
Sr. Maria died in a tragic air crash at Sucúa on August 25, 1969.
Her remains lie at Macas, in the Province of Morona (Ecuador).

8. R. The Servant of God, Sister Maria Troncatti, was declared
Venerable by the Decree on November 8, 2008 and raised to
the glory of the Blessed in Macas (Ecuador) on
November 24, 2012 by the representative of the Pope,
Cardinal Angelo Amato.
https://www.cgfmanet.org/1.aspx?sez=1&sotsez=4&detsotsez=1
&doc=11&lingua=2

9. Córteno Golgi – Brescia
One evening, when Maria was ten years old,
they thought that she had disappeared.
The goats came back on their own.
“I had drawn water for polenta; I wanted to take it
to you, but then I didn’t see anything anymore.
The goats were gone. I was alone and didn’t know
where to turn. I went here and there, and then I
stopped. I said: ‘Papa will find me; he will come
immediately to look for me’”…
“Weren't you afraid?”
“No. I had the Lord's grace in my heart. I went to
bed, I said my prayers, and I asked my Angel to
look for the goats”.

10. Lord, my heart is not proud;
nor are my eyes haughty.
I do not busy myself with great matters,
with things too sublime for me.
Rather, I have stilled my soul,
Like a weaned child to its mother,
weaned is my soul.
Israel, hope in the Lord,
now and forever.
(Psalm 131)
Let us pray together:

11. Caterina Troncatti, barely in her
twenties, enrolled in the “Company of
Saint Angela”; she found her vocation
there and lived it up to her ninety-five
years. Maria instead adhered to the
“Daughters of Mary”. Her dream was
another: not consecrated in the family,
but in a religious institute of missionary
horizons; belonging to the “Daughters of
Mary” could be a start. The dream that
would take her far began to live in her
from the age of fifteen or sixteen.
“Why don't you do like me? I will live my
life here: all for the Lord”.
“No. I have to go among the lepers!”

12. After Lot had parted from him, the Lord said to Abram:
“Look about you, and from where you are, gaze to
the north and south, east and west; all the land that
you see I will give to you and your descendants
forever. I will make your descendants like the dust
of the earth; if anyone could count the dust
of the earth, your descendants too might
be counted. Get up and walk through the land,
across its length and breadth,
for I give it to you”.
(Genesis 13: 14 – 17)
Let us pray together:

13. “The needs of the Mission
are increasing more and more.
We must give everything to
these poor Kivari, and they
surrender and allow
themselves to be won over
more easily if, along with the
light of truth and the bread of
Christian doctrine,
we can also add a bit of
clothing to dress them and
something to sustain them”.

14. My child, do not mock the life of the poor;
do not keep needy eyes waiting.
Do not grieve the hungry, nor anger the needy.
Do not aggravate a heart already angry,
nor delay giving to the needy.
A beggar’s request do not reject;
do not turn your face away
from the poor.
(Sirach 4: 1 - 4)
Let us pray together:

15. On September 12, 1908,
under the protection of Mary Most
Holy, she pronounced her vows
of poverty, chastity, and
obedience for the first time. In an
act of faith and abandonment,
she left us this remembrance:
“Now I am Yours, Lord.
I want to be Yours forever.
Jesus, I have left what I loved
the most to come to serve You,
to sanctify myself”.

16. With knowledge and understanding he filled them;
good and evil he showed them.
He put fear of him into their hearts
to show them the grandeur of his works,
That they might describe the wonders of his deeds
and praise his holy name.
He set before them knowledge,
and allotted to them the law of life.
An everlasting covenant he made with them,
and his commandments
he revealed to them.
His majestic glory their eyes beheld,
his glorious voice their ears heard.
(Sirach 17: 7 – 13)
Let us pray together:

17. G. Let us conclude now by presenting to God our
spontaneous petitions.
 OUR FATHER…
 Conclude with an appropriate song.

20. General Intention:
For the success of the Panamazon Synod on the theme:
“Amazon: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral
Ecology”, which will take place in Rome
from October 6 to 27 2019.

21. G. Dear Sisters, on this second day of the Triduum in honor
of Blessed Sister Maria Troncatti, we wish to compare our
gaze with the gaze of this missionary who knew how to let
herself be guided not by human, superficial, physical eyes ...
but by the gaze of the heart. The gaze that sees beyond, a
gaze that allowed her to give to her life as a consecrated
missionary educator the dynamism of depth and radicality
that made her a prophetic witness alongside the poorest
and neediest of the time.
Mother Yvonne says: “Our life will be contagious and
fruitful with vocations if we know how to broaden the gaze
of our heart to perceive the deep need of God that rises
from the young people we meet every day on our path; if
we are willing to find evangelical answers together with
them”. (Acts of GCXXIII p. 7)

22. “I console myself at the feet
of Jesus. One look at my
crucifix that is hanging around
my neck gives me life and
wings to work. This is not a
fairytale. It is the pure truth.
I am among thousands
of indigenes, really
indigenous, in the middle of
an immense forest”.

23. The works of all humankind are present to him;
nothing is hidden from his eyes.
His gaze spans all the ages:
is there any limit to his saving action?
To him, nothing is small or insignificant,
and nothing too wonderful or hard for him.
(Sirach 39: 19 – 20)
Together we pray:

24. There are faces, looks, and gestures that can heal the deepest wounds, soften all
the pain ... this was Sr. Maria. “In my medicine I put a prayer that is a ray of
heaven and the sky responds,” she said.
Soon the house of the sisters
became a place of welcome,
of relief for the body, and above
all to bring them to God (to
baptize them)... there they
brought sick people, children
destined to die due to some
malformation, women abused by
their husbands... and even
though the holidays arrived in
July, the work was always
increasing.

25. Give alms from your possessions.
Do not turn your face away from any of the
poor, so that God’s face will not be turned
away from you.
(Tobit 4: 7)
Let us pray together:

26. The sisters soon receive girls and young Shuar as residents and the good seed
multiplies. However, the attractiveness of the forest is sometimes irresistible,
especially for the older ones. One night, two young girls flee.
When the sisters realize what
happened, they go to look for them
with torches during the night and
find them huddled in an
abandoned hut. They bring them
back to the mission without any
reproach. The girls were very
frightened.

27. Turn away your face from my sins;
blot out all my iniquities.
A clean heart create for me, God;
renew within me a steadfast spirit.
(Psalm 51)
We pray together:

28. We are at the start of the mission of
Macas,1926...
In the meantime another house is being
prepared because the Shuar girls are
increasing: a small bedroom with some beds
to accommodate disabled girls, illegitimate
daughters, orphans, sick people... These little
ones are like the real gems that Sr. Maria
welcomes, in addition to educating their
mothers, teaching them that killing children
is bad, God does not want it. Some
understand and help. We see that, with
concrete words and gestures, Sr. Maria
spreads the culture of respect for the human
dignity of every person, especially if she is
weak. Only God knows how many lives have
been saved from death because she accepted
them as a true mother both in Macas and in
Sucúa where she worked.

29. I will look after them for their good and
bring them back to this land, to build them
up, not tear them down; to plant them,
not uproot them. I will give them a heart
to know me, that I am the Lord.
They shall be my people and I will be
their God, for they shall return to me
with their whole heart.
(Jeremiah 24: 6 – 7)
We pray together:

30. G. Let us conclude now by presenting to God our
spontaneous petitions.
 OUR FATHER…
 Conclude with an appropriate song.

33. General Intention:
For the success of the Panamazon Synod on the theme:
“Amazon: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral
Ecology”, which will take place in Rome
from October 6 to 27 2019.

34. R. “Open your heart to accept the inner movements of God’s grace;
broaden your gaze, broaden your gaze to recognize the most
authentic needs and urgencies of a changing society and
generation”. (Pope Francis, 8 November 2014)
G. From the Acts of GCXXIII (n. 10): “The encounter with
Jesus opens the eyes, offers a new outlook. His Word
illumines, purifies, changes the way we see and evaluate
situations. The disciples recognize the Lord, ask Him to
stay with them, let Him enter their lives. Transformed by
the encounter with Him, they return without delay to
Jerusalem, the city of Easter and Pentecost, with the
desire to proclaim the risen Lord and to share the
experience of full happiness that has broadened their
vision and their heart”.

35. G. Dearest Sisters, on this third day of the Triduum in
honor of Sr. Maria Troncatti, let us allow ourselves to
be guided by God, the Father of mercy.
When we sense that Someone is looking at us with
love, we are more determined in our journey of
missionary pastoral conversion.
We commit ourselves to change perspective and
to cultivate a positive attitude toward others,
going beyond the exterior and looking at every person
through the eyes of Christ’s unconditional love.
Mary is our companion on the journey and helps us to
conform our gaze to the gaze of her Son, our heart to
the Heart of her Son.

36. On January 18, 1960, she writes to her sister
Catherine and, among other things, she speaks of
a young Shuar who is seriously ill, but who got well
with medicine and care. This young woman told
Sr. Troncatti: “I was happy to go to Heaven.
Now I am better and I must stay on this earth.
But I want to be good and pray for the conversion
of my companions”. And as a sign that she is
telling the truth, “she always has the Rosary in her
hands and prays all the time”.
“Imagine, Catherine, the time for the conversion
of the indigenes has arrived. We have 230 residents
who are all indigenes. Certainly it is the sacrifices
that you make and the many prayers… all of our
missions are full of indigenes. Blessed be the Lord!
We can do much good to them, especially if they
know and love Jesus, if they accomplish their
duties as good Christians and reach salvation”.

37. My people have their mind set on apostasy;
though they call on God in unison,
he shall not raise them up.
(Hosea 11: 7)
We pray together:

38. On Easter of 1931, Sr. Maria Troncatti wrote to her
mother, telling her that on that date a young Shuar
woman, 21 years old, had received both her Baptism
and Holy Communion. Another 14-year old girl had
received Holy Communion for the first time. In her
letter she said, “These are truly moving events,
seeing these indigenes who were so rebellious
at the beginning, little by little become more
docile each day. When we speak to them of the
catechism and they begin to understand it, they
eagerly want us to speak of Jesus and they
become fervent. It seems that the good Jesus
makes Himself sensibly felt because when they
receive Him in Holy Communion, they would
always want to remain in Church”.

39. Therefore, let us… persevere in
running the race that lies before
us while keeping our eyes fixed
on Jesus, the leader and
perfecter of faith.
(Hebrews 12: 1 – 2)
We pray together:

40. Before the sick young man (Augusto
Zúñiga) she took from her prayer book a
picture of Mary Help of Christians and told
him to kiss it because that was medicine.
Then she touched his broken ribs with the
tip of her finger and placed the image on
them and prayed the Hail Mary…
After 5 days, she told him to try to sit up
and Augusto sat up without any effort, got
out of bed, and took some steps…
on the sixth day he was cured and on the
seventh, she took off the bandages, again
gave him the picture to kiss and placed it
once more in her book. Then she told him
to bathe and swim in the river. He did this
and felt himself completely cured.

41. But you do see;
you take note of misery and sorrow;
you take the matter in hand.
To you the helpless can entrust their cause;
you are the defender of orphans.
(Psalm 10)
Let us pray together:

42. “Therefore my dear ones…
let us all place ourselves in
the Heart of Jesus who is
our father and consoles
everyone…
I have prayed for each of you
to Jesus. Believe that, even
though I cannot help you in
material ways, with the help
of God, I will help you in
spiritual ways”.

43. But as for me, I will look to the LORD,
I will wait for God my savior;
my God will hear me!
(Micha 7: 7)
Let us pray together:

44. G. Let us conclude now by presenting to God our
spontaneous petitions.
 OUR FATHER…
 Conclude with an appropriate song.

47. We pray to Sr. Maria Troncatti so that our desire may grow
to broaden our vision, to respond with our life to the
command of Jesus, “Go into the whole world and
proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16: 15).
On this feast day, August 25, a SUNDAY, day of the Lord,
we invite the Communities to celebrate the Eucharist
festively, at home or in the parish, praying together for the
two communities dedicated to Blessed Maria Troncatti
that are found in the land of ‘Arfaxad’ (cf. Don Bosco’s fourth
missionary dream – BM XV), that is the Preprovince CSM,
whose city and date of foundation the Institute reserves the
right to keep anonymous.

48. Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
praiseworthy and glorious forever.
Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,
praise and exalt him above all forever.
(Daniel 3: 55 - 57)
Together we pray:

49. Lettere di suor Maria Troncatti fma
Missionaria in Ecuador
a cura di Sylwia Ciezkowska, fma
Roma, Istituto FMA 2013
La grazia di un sì tutto donato.
Maria Troncatti
Missionaria nella foresta amazzonica
Maria Collino
Elledici 2012